Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Chris Smitherman, laughable idiot and president of the local NAACP chapter as well as a former city councilman who wasn't re-elected, is known for his goofy press releases. You know, the ones that he writes himself and then quotes himself, but phrases it as if he's a reporter interviewing himself. Sounds to me like he's just talking to himself, which is probably true since I don't think anyone really takes this guy seriously.

In his latest press release, Smitherman calls for a bailout of Cincinnati and likens the budget situation at city hall to that of the recent economic crisis in Greece. Kind of ironic that a local COAST supporter is calling for a "bailout." Then again this is the guy that Mark Miller of COAST called a "Great American," to which 700 WLW radio host Bill Cunningham simply replied by laughing at Miller.

In case you forgot, this is the same guy that called Issue 9 "deceiving," even though he's the guy who wrote it. Read about that here.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

In 2007, the Brent Spence Bridge, a bridge designed to carry 85,000 motor vehicles daily, was carrying 155,000 vehicles on a daily basis. A replacement or alternative for the Brent Spence has been long over due. Progressive ideas such as light and commuter rail have been consistently been talked down by groups like COAST. The taxpayers, whom COAST claims to defend, are about to be stuck with a $2.6 Billion bill for the construction of a new Brent Spence Bridge. Meanwhile, had we invested in Metro Moves back in 2002, we could've been working to reduce highway congestion for the tri-state's commuters and maybe we wouldn't be replacing the aging bridge so quickly.

Brent Spence stands upon the recently completed bridge named after him upon its completion in 1963. Image credit: The Phony Coney

As if $2.6 Billion didn't sound bad enough, consider that construction isn't slated to start until 2015, assuming there are no more delays in planning and design. By then, construction costs will have risen even higher and the current aged bridge will be carrying more traffic than ever before. By 2013, two years before construction is supposed to start, the Brent Spence Bridge is estimated to be carrying 200,000 vehicles daily, 115,000 more vehicles than it was originally designed for.

My personal favorite of the new bridge designs. The new bridge will surely look nice, but boy will it cost us!

As the cost continues to pile up for a bridge replacement, other cities and states are investing in rail projects. Not only does rail reduce highway congestion, reduce pollution, have a higher capacity for transporting people and goods all while making better use of land and space, but it costs less!

"What? No, Tairy! That can't be!" -- It's true! A single bridge will cost more than the ten most expensive rail transit projects we've seen across the world in this past decade!

- It cost $1.4 Billion to build a 20 mile commuter light rail line in Phoenix that links multiple destinations and carries over 30,000 people per day (far exceeding initial expectations). Meanwhile, here in the Tri-State it will cost us $2.6 Billion to replace just one bridge.

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1. San Juan Tren Urbano - This urban rail line in San Juan, Puerto Rico, completed in 2004, cost an estimated $2.6 Billion in 2009 dollars, roughly the same cost as the Brent Spence Bridge replacement (whose costs might rise by 2015). The difference: this rail line connects thousands and provides transportation across the city while our new bridge is just that...a new bridge.

4. Vancouver Canada Line - Carry's over 100,000 people daily between the city's airport and downtown (sounds like a familiar idea Cincinnati once had). Cost: $2 Billion.

5. Phase 3 of the LA Red Line - Completed six months ahead of schedule and under budget, this commuter rail line saved LA from having to spend billions to create highways through and around the Santa Monica Mountains. Cost: $1.3 Billion.

8. Philadelphia Market-Frankford Reconstruction - The complete replacement of this rapid transit line now allows SEPTA to carry 180,000 users daily and thats just one line. Imagine how much that reduces highway congestion. Cost: $1.3 Billion.

9. New Jersey River Line - For the cost of $1.26 Billion, Light Rail diesel vehicles carry roughly 7300 commuters every day across 34 miles. Cincinnati could've had a similar plan to this with Metro Moves, linking the East Side and eliminating a need to expand and rebuild OH-32. Instead, we'll be expanding that highway too and tearing down even more homes and businesses.

10. Washington Branch Ave. Metrorail Extension - The completion of five new stations on this line has lead to economic development and put the Washington Metro at 103 miles of total service. Cost: $1.10 Billion.

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One bridge will cost us $2.6 Billion dollars alone!

That's assuming construction is underway by 2015, costs haven't risen, or the project doesn't run over budget. That also doesn't account for the billions taxpayers will spend widening and re-doing I-75 from downtown all the way to I-275!

Why not invest in light rail transit and reduce the congestion and stress put on our highways? Why are we going to spend billions when we could spend far less to make a better investment in our future? More importantly, why is a group who claims to watch out for "additional spending" remaining so quiet on this issue? COAST has no problem trying to stop the City of Cincinnati (a city in which the majority of their members DO NOT live in) from building a $128 Million streetcar line, but remains eerily silent as the state prepares to waste billions upon billions on highway infrastructure?

COAST failed to derail the $128 Million streetcar project, but has done nothing to try and stop or suggest cost saving alternatives for the $2.6 Billion Brent Spence Bridge Replacement.

My father and grandfather taught me that a true conservative realizes a good investment and works against wasteful spending. The folks at COAST are not conservatives, they are merely special interest pawns who do not have the taxpayers best interest at heart.

So while COAST likes to label every project they're against as a "boondoggle." We'll call this Brent Spence replacement plan...

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Today it was announced that the city of Cincinnati would not be receiving any federal TIGER stimulus funds for its proposed Modern Streetcar project. Meanwhile, the cities of Tuscon, Arizona and Dallas, Texas received federal stimulus dollars for their projects. Out of 1457 projects that applied for funding, only 51 had their requests met in some fashion. Does this mean the death of the proposed Cincinnati Streetcar? Not by a long shot. The project has applied for other grants and the word will be out on those in the future. Is this a setback? Yes. However, unlike COAST would like to believe, this not the death of the project and this is certainly not a victory for the Anderson Township based fringe group.

I don't think the brilliant minds at COAST are aware that this was not the only funding grant the streetcar project had applied for, nor is this set back an imminent threat to the project as shown here. Maybe the boys at COAST should brush up on a little bit of their history of assumed premature victories:

One has to wonder why a man who can't take care of his own finances feels so inclined to lecture others on how to properly spend their money. Maybe Jason should get the court case set against him by Hamilton County in order first before he declares victory for COAST. We wish the best for Jason and his family through this tough time.

Just as there are no TIGER funds for streetcar, there will be no TIGER funds for Gloyd's mortgage.

Monday, February 15, 2010

In case you haven't heard, our good friends at the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) recently celebrated their tenth anniversary. A happy new year/anniversary post on their blog encouraged their readers to "Leave your many fond recollections of COAST in the comments." The only person who commented was me, who reminded them of the fond memories I have when we defeated their Issue 9. So in honor of COAST's 10th Anniversary let's take a look back at what they have to show for the past decade...

- Members of the local fringe group, COAST.

2010 -- COAST starts the new decade off by POKING FUN AT THE DEATH OF VIETNAM COMBAT VETERAN AND AMERICAN POLITICIAN, JOHN MURTHA.

2009 -- COAST's proportional representation campaign fails and out of 17 politicians and issues endorsed in the November election, ALL FAILED, EXCEPT FIVE. Issue 9, a deceptive campaign started by COAST and the NAACP, aimed at stopping the Cincinnati streetcar project , ISDEFEATED BY VOTERS 56% - 44%.

2008 -- COAST sues to stop use of City Hall facilities for pro-tax purposes AND THEN THE USES CITY HALL FACILITIES TO ADVOCATE THEIR OWN AGENDA, KINDA HYPOCRITICAL, NO?

2008 -- COAST passes a ban in Cincinnati on the use of red light and speeding cameras WORSENING OUR BUDGET AND HURTING OUR PUBLIC SAFETY.

2007 -- COAST attempted to sue in order to stop taxpayer funding of Commissioner David Pepper's girlfriend's Greater Cincinnati Film Commission, which works to bring jobs and promote the tri-state area. COAST FAILED. COMMISSION STILL FUNDED BY GOVERNOR STRICKLAND'S TAX INCENTIVES. AND WHY DO THEY HATE DAVID PEPPER SO MUCH? THEY REALLY HATE DAVID PEPPER.

2005 -- COAST arranged for legal representation for woman in Loveland criminally charged with owing $1.16 in income tax, resulting in a dismissal of the charges. THIS IS ONE OF ONLY TWO ACTUAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS ON THE LIST.

2004 -- North COAST formed to aid in the fight against excessive taxes and spending in Butler and Warren Counties. NOT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT, JUST WAIT FOR NORTH CAAST TO FORM AGAINST THEM.

2003 -- passed a Charter Amendment in Cincinnati preventing the use of tax dollars to campaign for tax increases ACTUALLY THIS IS A GOOD IDEA, BUT WAS ALREADY PROHIBITED BY STATE LAW O.R.C. 9.03(C)(1)(E)

2003 -- joined a coalition called ALRT to defeat a 1 ¢ sales tax increase for a light rail transit system (since the defeat of this tax increase, COAST has done NOTHING to step up against tax increases and additional spending on highways and roads). WRONG YEAR AND IF YOUR ONLY ACCOMPLISHMENT IS DESTROYING THE WORK OF OTHERS, I GUESS ARSONISTS ARE PRETTY ACCOMPLISHED TOO.

2002 -- A COAST lawsuit prevents Cincinnati Public Schools from abusing tax dollars to advocate for political causes such as tax increases. SEE ABOVE (THIS WAS ALREADY A LAW).

2001 -- defeated an effort to fund the "Regional Coltural Alliance" with $500,000 in tax dollars. THEY MAY HAVE JUST MADE THIS ONE UP; A SEARCH OF "COLTURAL" IN THE CITY AND COUNTY LEGISLATIVE ARCHIVES PRODUCES NO RESULTS.

2001 -- Brought the property tax rollback to Cincinnati that continues to this day WORSENING OUR BUDGET AND HURTING OUR PUBLIC SAFETY.

2000 -- Defeated funding by the City of Cincinnati for an effort to bring the 2012 Summer Olympics to Cincinnati. YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT? THE OLYMPICS BRINGING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO OUR REGION, LIKE IT DID IN BEIJING, VANCOUVER, SYDNEY, and SALT LAKE CITY!

1999 -- defeated the zoo tax levy. WE HAVE ONE OF THE TOP ZOO'S IN THE NATION, LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY.

10 years. An entire decade and what does COAST have to show for it? A staunch record of saying "no," huge budget deficits within the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, and a record of opposing public safety programs. Their only real accomplishments were prohibiting public funds to used to potentially influence elections, however, this was already a state law, and a minor criminal defense matter that could've been handled by any competent lawyer.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

In case you haven't heard, Congressman John Murtha passed away yesterday after complications due to a recent gall bladder surgery he had. While I was certainly not always a fan of Murtha's politics, America has lost not only a statesman respected by both parties, but a combat veteran who proudly served his country in the Vietnam war.

However, the head honchos at COAST don't see that. We've seen COAST stoop low, but never this low. Check out what COAST treasurer Mark Miller, who authors the COAST Twitter account, had to say about this war veterans death:

This isn't the first time CAAST has been alerted of Miller's nonsense on Twitter. A few months ago we pointed out how he resorted, on two occasions, to calling his opponents "pussies" in the wake of political defeat. You can read about those incidents here and here. On top of that, the Cincinnati Blog showed us how COAST has been editing other peoples tweets to bolster fake support for themselves! Read about that here.

Miller and COAST did not stop with the Murtha tweets though. Yep, you guessed it, there's more. Check out this other tweet from @GOCOAST:

Ironically, in this tweet, we see COAST complaining that the downtown Riverfront Transit Center is "empty." It's ironic because for starters it is not empty. The Center is used multiple times throughout the year to house charter buses for large scale events downtown. System Parking operates it and has a contract with the city, allowing the city to bring in some profit from the event parking. By calling it "empty" COAST is referring to how it has never been used for light rail purposes. Why hasn't it? Because COAST worked to defeat Metro Moves in 2002 which would've put the transit center to good use and made it the center for light rail activity in the heart of downtown. They have no one to blame but themselves for it being "empty."

You may remember recently, I challenged COAST to answer why they continue to intentionally lie about rail transit. My challenge went unanswered, COAST even blocked me from following their Twitter account (guess they can't take criticism backed by factual evidence). As COAST continues to complain about the 3C Rail Corridor throughout Ohio, they offer no alternative. The group is wiling to turn down $400 Million in federal funding that would provide a new transportation option for Ohio residents and be a step towards high speed rail. That $400 Million would just go to another state, it couldn't be used anywhere else here. So what's the alternative? What is COAST's plan for the future?

It's simple, they don't have one. COAST has proven time and time again that immature behavior and name calling is their standard operating procedure. They offer no solutions or alternatives while mocking the dead. Maybe someone should get Mark Miller and his buddies a one way ticket to Colorado Springs.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

COASTer Brad Wenstrup (center) poses with other COAST members at COAST's annual Christmas Party held at Slatt's Pub in Blue Ash. Wenstrup was recently defeated in his run for mayor of Cincinnati. Photo courtesy of COAST'.

Ah, tiss the holiday season! To all of our loyal readers, fans and haters, the folks here at CAAST would to extend our warmest holiday wishes to you. Thank you for your support and we hope you had a wonderful holiday season. We'd even like to extend a very, yet belated, Merry Christmas to our buddies at COAST. Speaking of which, our friends recently were "simply having a wonderful Christmas time."

Not surprisingly, COAST held their annual holiday party at a suburban bar outside of the city limits of Cincinnati, a city whose politics they love to interfere with yet very few of their members actually live in. Anderson Township COAST leaders Chris Finney and Jason Gloyd were seen rubbing elbows with their failed mayoral candidate, Brad Wenstrup, at Slatt's Pub in Blue Ash, Ohio.

Slatt's Pub was a good choice for COAST to hold their holiday party. According to Slatt's website, their establishment is the official "Brown Backers bar of Greater Cincinnati." Slatt's shows all Cleveland Browns games and offers discounts to registered fans of the Cleveland Browns football team, arch-rivals of our own Cincinnati Bengals. So why is this perfect for COAST? Well, it works out great:

Slatt's doesn't support the hometown team, rather their rivals.

- COAST doesn't support Cincinnati, rather tries to interfere in it's politics despite the fact the majority of their group is located in the suburbs.

The Cleveland Browns lost 11 games this season, winning only five. Coincidentally COAST only had five victories as well. Out of 17 COAST endorsed candidates and issues, all failed except five.

So as displaced Browns fans from the greater Cincinnati area gathered at Slatt's to mourn the team's abysmal season (Cincinnati defeated Cleveland twice) and losing record, the COASTers gathered to celebrate theirs.

Monday, December 28, 2009

What really does COAST have against passenger rail transportation? They claim it's often "too damned expensive," yet you never see them opposing other expensive forms of transportation, many of which are often way more expensive than passenger rail transportation. COAST can't even make a good argument for being against passenger rail transportation. This was ever so apparent in the recent election when their passenger rail charter amendment, Issue 9, was defeated by Cincinnati voters %56 - %44.

So COAST, why lie? Why continue to try and mislead about passenger rail transportation and not oppose the massive amounts additional taxes and spending that other transportation projects will require? You've come out in clear opposition to the Ohio 3C Passenger Rail project, but have remained completely silent on the local issues of the BILLION DOLLAR Brent Spence Bridge Replacement and $675 Million I-75 Re-Widening. Why remain silent on these instances of additional spending? Kind of goes against your group's title doesn't it?

Makes you think; who's paying and lobbying them to drum up support against passenger rail transportation and remain silent on other transportation projects that waste millions of dollars more?

To anyone reading this that may be paying/lobbying COAST to do just that: You might want to rethink who you're paying to do your dirty work. As COAST/NAACP/WEDEMANDAVOTE proved in the last election, they're not very good at it. See: Issue 9 Election Results

Well their number one concern is stopping progress in Cincinnati even though the VAST MAJORITY of their members don't live in the City, so maybe they should be called "Cincinnati's Overlords in AnderSon Township"

Well they hate streetcars even though they require no additional taxes and involve much much less spending than other transportation projects ($128 million v. $2,600 million for the brent spence bridge) so maybe they should be called the "Coalition Opposed to All Sustainable Transportation"

And number three on the their list (in a tie with taxes) is WeDemandAVote, a group that partnered with NAACP president Chris Smitherman to oppose the streetcar, only to see Issue 9, which they authored, soundly defeated.

For a group that allegedgly cares about taxes and spending, they sure don't seem to prioritize it. Maybe it is beacuse this is how they make their decisions:

COAST, please keep your lies confined to Blue ash and anderson township, if you stop trying to hold back Cincinnati, we promise we won't do anything to improve Blue Ash and Anderson Township, sound fair?

I remember the first time I heard someone get called a "pussy." I was in the fifth grade. Ryan McFarland and James Fallon, two members of my fifth grade class, were squaring off in the middle of our Hamilton, Ohio school parking lot. James was angry that Ryan would not fight him. Upon Ryan's refusal James called him a "pussy." No, he wasn't referring to the common slang for a cat, but using the word as a derogatory reference for a woman's reproductive organ. The word is often used to refer to someone who is "weak" or "scared." You may have heard it before used by members of COAST as we showed you in one of their "tweets" a few weeks back.

You see, calling someone a "pussy" is a common tactic of COAST. Yes, as we've shown you before COAST's leaders are not really above the maturity level of the earlier mentioned fifth graders. Hell, they even did it again recently, referring to our nation's leaders as "lilly-livered pussys."

So are Mark Miller, Jason Gloyd and Chris Finney, three of COAST's top brass, above the maturity level of a 5th grader? One would think not since they let such language fly on their Twitter and blog website all the time. Maybe if COAST focused on political issues and offered solutions and new ideas instead of calling people "pussy's" they wouldn't find that the majority of the candidates and issues they endorse wouldn't find such failure. Shall we recap this years election results?

2009 COAST Failures:

Brad Wenstrup - Mayor of Cincinnati - DEFEATED

Albert F. Peter - Anderson Township Trustee - DEFEATED

John Banner - Cincinnati School Board - DEFEATED (finished in 10th out of 12th place, ouch!)

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Well, it certainly has been awhile since CAAST last mentioned COAST and yep, you guessed it: Despite being soundly defeated in the recent election with Issue 9, COAST continues to deceive and lie about streetcars. In fact, just yesterday they stooped to a new low when they called someone a "Littel Rich Pussy" on Twitter (It appears to be a spelling mistake as I'm assuming they meant "Little"). Then again, what other kind of behavior would you expect from COAST and their Anderson Township followers?

Yesterday, Brian Sherman (@bshermcincy) who is not a politician, just an ordinary citizen, "re-tweeted" (reposted a message on Twitter to help spread it along) a "tweet" posted by Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper (@DavidPepper) which said:

"They (COAST) scare people, then disappear & move on."

After his re-tweet the classy, mature folks at COAST decided to send a message to Mr. Sherman and call him a "pussy."

For those who aren't sure; "pussy" is often used as a slang term for a woman's vagina. It wasn't enough that COAST has been called out and caught numerous times lying and trying to deceive the voters, now they have to call their opponents "pussies." Is it any wonder why no one listens to these guys?

In other COAST news, there's a rumor going around that former SORTA board member Stephan Louis has started to write anti-streetcar stories for the COAST blog. Don't remember Stephan? He was the guy who in a debate at the University of Cincinnati compared building a streetcar to having an "abortion," then was embarrassed following the debate when he received only one vote of support. Read that story here.

It is believed that Stephan wrote the most recent COAST post which featured this photograph of a streetcar trapped in the snow:

The title of the COAST story was that "Trolley's get trapped in snow, busses roll on." What COAST failed to tell you as they intentionally tried to deceive you was that the website from where they borrowed this image shows A BUS and CARS trapped in the SAME snow storm:

Folks we've seen it time and time again, the CAAST blog serves as a constant reminder to it; COAST's only tactic is to obstruct and deceive in order to promote their special interest agenda. All you have to is look back through the months of posts here to see how many times COAST has lied. The good news is, no one's buying it. I agree with what commissioner Pepper said: "They scare people, then disappear & move on." That's COAST's strategy. No real solutions and no real answers.

To Smitherman, Louis and COAST I ask you: Do you remember the results of Issue 9 in the November 3rd election? Because I certainly do and as I remember, you lost:

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Kings Island has attracted millions upon millions of visitors since it's grand opening in 1972. The Beach Waterpark right across the street is also a huge draw. These two tourist attractions just 30 miles north of Cincinnati became so popular that they drew in the construction of the Great Wolf Lodge, a massive hotel and indoor waterpark resort which became yet another tourist attraction and successful business in the area. Together, these companies have helped spawn massive amounts of economic development and tax revenue over the years for Deerfield Township. Those benefits were passed on to Mason when the entire Kings Island property and much of the surrounding area was annexed by Mason in 1999.

So you have three major tourist attractions in your area, one of which (Kings Island) has basically been the catalyst to your city's rapid growth and success (Kings Island itself was nothing but farm houses before it was constructed) since it's inception in 1972 and you want to tax them even more? That's exactly what the city of Mason wants to do. To be fair they've been discussing it for years, but just recently actually made some progress on it. The only reason they haven't voted on it is because not all of their council members were present at their most recent meeting.

“There are expenses related to that number of people [the visitors to the taxed amusement facilities] and I believe those people should help pay for it, rather than the citizens of Mason subsidizing their operation.”

Bradburn is calling for a 3% tax on admissions and a 5% tax on parking facilities.

Now, pardon me, but someone here is getting greedy. These business owners and their amusement properties already pay taxes to Mason and even all of their employees, regardless of where they live, get taxed on their paychecks by the city. Kings Mills Rd., the main thoroughfare in front of Kings Island, the Great Wolf Lodge, The Beach and countless other businesses is currently being repaved and reconstructed by the Ohio Department of Transportation and funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, not the city of Mason. While Mason does provide fire and police services to these facilities, they're already taxing these properties once and every single one of their employees, how much more could they possibly need?

This nation is in an economic downturn. Kings Island is the backbone of the Mason economy and places like amusement parks are feeling the downturn too. Now, in spite of this, the city of Mason wants to tax these businesses even more and drive their ticket and parking prices up (both of which mnay readers will agree are already too exorberent for the average family), which could turn off even more visitors who are already being choosy with where they're spending their money in the current recession.

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CALLING & INTENTION

Inspired by our friends at COAST; CAAST is "Citizens Against Antiquated, Stupid Thinking." Mark Twain was once quoted as saying "When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always twenty years behind the times." Unfortunately, past decisions by our leaders have made this quote remain somewhat true. Yet, today, as Cincinnati, it's citizens and it's new leaders attempt to move forward, there are many forces at work attempting to keep the Queen City "twenty years behinds the times." CAAST exists to stand up, educate and speak out against those who want to keep Cincinnati in the dark. We're not a special interest group, we're everyday citizens and taxpayers like you, ready to see our city prosper into the future!

CAAST advances our noble cause through consistent views, policies and adherence to our values, while supporting candidates with similar composure. Fighting to inform you of the truth behind legislation and issues at the ballot box.